NWQMC July 26, 2005 Developing A National Water Quality Monitoring Network Design

An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century Final Report of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy The US Ocean Action Plan The Administration’s Response Both called for the creation of a National Water Quality Monitoring Network Origins of the Proposal

Three Recommendations: 1.Develop network that coordinates and expands existing efforts 2.The network should include coverage in both the coastal and upland areas that affect them, and be linked to the Integrated Ocean Observing System 3.Network must have clear goals, specify core variables, and an appropriate sampling framework, and be periodically reviewed and updated. National Water Quality Monitoring Network

Council is a 35-member committee under the Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI) ACWI is Chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act ACWI members accepted task from CEQ and NSTC for Council to Design a National Water Quality Monitoring Network (NMN) Council has already developed many products to address these problems (see Council brochure)

Challenge: Common information goals ● Compatible design approaches ● Sampling timing ● Metadata standards ● Parameter specifications ● Field data collection & handling ● Analytic procedures ● Data storage, and data access practices National Water Quality Monitoring Network

Design Workgroup Steering Committee Inventory Workgroup Data Assembly & Access Methods & Data Comp Workgroup Council’s Organization of the Effort National Water Quality Monitoring Network

57 Participants in the National Water Quality Network Design Federal Industry Academia State & Tribal Local 40% 28% 23% 7% 2%

Design the network using criteria derived from: –Specified goals and objectives –Management questions Compare design with existing monitoring efforts Then: –Retain –Add or Extend –Enhance –Define as external to the Network Approach to the Design

Integrate, coordinate, and as necessary enhance water quality monitoring efforts needed to make informed management decisions for sustainable use of aquatic resources. Communicate the availability of quality assured data, and disseminate information products relevant to national, regional and local needs. Goals of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network

1. Define status and trends of key water quality parameters and conditions on a nationwide basis. 2. Provide data relevant to determining whether goals, standards, and resource management objectives are being met, thus contributing to sustainable and beneficial use of coastal and inland water resources. 3. Provide data to identify and rank existing and emerging problems to help target more intensive monitoring, preventive actions, or remediation. 4. Provide data to support and define coastal oceanographic and hydrologic research, including influences of freshwater inflows. 5. Provide quality-assured data for use in the preparation of interpretive reports and educational materials. Objectives of the National Water Quality Monitoring Network

1.What is the condition of the Nation’s surface, ground, estuarine, and coastal waters? 2.Where, how, and why are water-quality conditions changing over time? 3.Where are the problems related to water quality? What is causing the problems? 1.Are programs to prevent or remediate problems working effectively? 2.Are water-quality goals and standards being met? 3.What research activities are needed to support these important resources? Management Questions

Major river systems and major tributaries of those primary drainages Estuaries Outlets of major estuaries and bays Near-shore coastal zone Regional aquifers Great Lakes The Six Environments

Oxygen depletion Nutrient enrichment Toxic contamination Sedimentation Harmful algal blooms Habitat degradation Invasions by exotic species Pathogens (indicator bacteria) Stressors Affecting Resources

Regional IOOS Associations

Major Rivers of the Conterminous U.S.

Cumulative Drainage and Streamflow in Major Conterminous U.S. Rivers

Illustrates the gap between what monitoring exists and what monitoring is useful to management Dissolved Oxygen in the Chesapeake Bay

703 Stream Gages 176 WQ Associated with Stream Gages 313 Active Stream Gages 389 Active Water-Quality 118 Sites Meet Frequency and/or Parameter Criteria for trends >1700 Water Quality Initial Network Design for Nontidal Monitoring

Focusing on the issue of oxygen depletion Assembling parameter lists for marine & estuarine waters Contacting other case study areas Progress To Date

We are addressing:  Common definitions of environmental compartments  Common information goals  The use of different design approaches  Common parameter specifications  Sample timing ● We are starting to address:  Metadata standards  Field data Collection & handling  Analytic procedures  Data storage, and data access practices Progress To Date

Council Meeting:July 26-28, 2005 Interim report to ACWI: Sept 14, 2005 Council Meeting:Nov 1-3, 2005 Final report:Mid-Jan 2006 Nat’l. Monitoring Conf.May 7-11, 2006 Network Milestones

Charles Spooner US Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water 4503T 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC Dr. Gail Mallard US Geological Survey 2 Schumann Road Westerly, RI